The present invention relates to a lever-type electrical connector.
Conventionally, when a connector, such as a multipolar connector, requires a high fitting force, a lever-type connector is employed. In this lever-type connector, a cam groove is provided in a lever attached to a male housing. The lever is pivoted while a follower pin attached to a female housing is in an inserted state within the cam groove, the follower pin thereby being moved along the cam groove and the two housings being drawn together. The two housings reach a fully fitted state when the lever reaches a final position, and the lever is retained by a stopping member provided on the male housing, the two housings thereby being maintained in a latched state.
An example of this type of connector is described in JP-6-333637.
In this type of multipolar connector, both housings have a long narrow shape and extend in a direction parallel to cavities within these housings. In addition, the follower pin that is fitted within the cam groove of the lever is provided at an approximately central location relative to the lengthwise direction of the two housings. As a result, when the two housings are in the fitted state, movement in an anterior-posterior direction can readily occur between both lengthwise ends of the two housings (with the follower pin being located in the centre). Consequently, the two housings are unstable even though they are in a fitted state.
It was considered that this problem might be solved by providing retaining devices so as to retain both lengthwise ends of the two housings. However, it is extremely time consuming, when releasing the fitting state of the two housings, to release not only the lever from the stopping member, but also to release the retained state of the retaining devices at two different locations.
The present invention has taken the above problem into consideration, and aims to present a multipolar lever-type connector that has a stable fitting state and that can be easily released from this fitting state.
According to the invention there is provided a lever-type connector having two relatively long and thin housings for mutual engagement, one of the housings having cam pins provided thereon, and the other connector housing a corresponding lever for engagement with said cam pins, and operable to draw together and to separate said housings characterized in that mutually engageable and releasable retaining devices are provided at the ends of lengths of said housings, said retaining devices being provided partially on each housing and being resiliently engageable and disengageable by application of a predetermined force to said lever.
Such a connector provides a releasable semi-latch at the extremities of the long dimension, and accordingly prevents rocking motion about the pivot axis defined by said cam pins.
In a preferred embodiment these latches are provided on respective spring biased sliders which retreat as the housings are drawn together. Such sliders are released at the point of full engagement to permit latching engagement of the retaining devices. This embodiment provides detection of correct fitting whereby a failure to move the lever to the final condition corresponding to full engagement of the housings, causes the housings to be moved apart.